Cards offensive line rising just in time on 'trust' and 'talent'
By Larry Weisman, USA TODAY
TEMPE, Ariz. — Cohesion, camaraderie and communication. Any offensive line that accumulates the three C's eventually gets an A.

The Arizona Cardinals expect to make the grade. They work together, play together, stay together.

Nineteen times this season the Cardinals have started the same group of five offensive linemen. All of them but center Lyle Sendlein were essentially full-time starters in 2007. So give them extra credit and another C — for continuity.

UNDERDOGS? Cards not bothered by label
THE HUDDLE: Hines Ward says he'll play in Super Bowl

"Being able to play every game together has really helped us," left tackle Mike Gandy says as the Cardinals continue their preparations for Super Bowl XLIII against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Feb. 1 in Tampa. "That's the key to the line. We have to play together as one unit. Just being able to keep this line together has been great."

It's an eclectic group often criticized for Arizona's limited running game, the NFL's worst during the regular season. It is a somewhat sensitive aggregation for the same reason.

"You throw on tape of other units and you throw on tape of us and we have just as much talent as anybody else in the league," left guard Reggie Wells says. "But people don't see that because we don't have the conventional 'run the football' offense that other teams do so you don't get the credit."

This Cardinals line is a mix of youth and veterans, of high draft choices, free agents and the undrafted. Right tackle Levi Brown is the lone first-round pick (2007). Right guard Deuce Lutui was a second-round selection in '06, Wells a sixth-rounder in 2003.

Gandy, who had played previously with the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills, came aboard as a free agent in '07. Sendlein, undrafted in '07, signed with the team he rooted for as a kid growing up in Scottsdale.

While the Cardinals struggled with their running game during the season, they've struck a critical balance in winning three postseason games and reaching the franchise's first Super Bowl. They've rushed the ball 100 times and thrown it 92 after passing on 65% of their offensive plays during the regular season.

"It definitely helps us being more than one-dimensional, having more things to throw out there at defenses," says Gandy, an eight-year veteran and, at 30, the group's senior statesman.

"It's just another aspect for them to look out for. We've had some success running the ball and this is a rushing league. You have to rush throughout the playoffs, and fortunately we've been able to turn this around."

The Cardinals ran the ball 340 times in the regular season, about 21 times a game. They've averaged 33 rushes in the playoffs.

Sendlein, whose father, Robin, played five seasons in the NFL, is the only member of this quintet who was not the regular starter in 2007. He stepped in just before this season's opener when Al Johnson (knee) was placed on injured reserve. He found his place quickly.

"Nothing changed a whole lot," he says. "It's communication and who you're playing next to and having trust throughout the line."

The Cardinals scored 95 points in beating the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs. The Falcons ranked 24th in total defense, the Panthers 18th, the Eagles third. In the Steelers, they go against the NFL's top-rated defense. The Steelers have permitted just 88 rushing yards in their two playoff wins (2.4 yards per carry).

Merely mentioning the dominance of the Pittsburgh defense gets the attention of the Cardinals offensive line. These guys say they have already been told too many times what they cannot achieve and now like to point to results.

"We have talent, too," Wells says. "All we've been hearing is how they were ranked and what they do to other teams, but we've done some things to teams, too. We know what kind of game it's going to be."